Tales of Penundra

Come, sit down, and let me tell you a tale....

Hero Skills

Skills exemplify the training and experience an adventurer has gathered over a lifetime and provide a more reliable way for them to affect the world around them. Unlike Abilities, which are almost exclusively combat-oriented, Skills can let an adventurer move through the shadows unseen, outrun a band of raging goblins, decipher a cryptic message, or even hold court with an Abyssal Demon Lord.

Each Skill adds a boost to d20 rolls and represents more general experience in a particular area. Some of the rarer skills may affect specific hero traits, but on the whole, the Skills reference the non-combat ways a hero interacts with the world. Heroes are encouraged to expand and explain what they intend to do with a particular Skill and describe how training in “Diplomacy” might help them scale the side of a cliff.

In addition to the d20 boosts, Skills can also grant heroes certain Perks at higher levels. These may be something as simple as adding a new language to permanently increasing your health.

Each Hero may learn up to 3 Skills. There are no prerequisites to learning a Skill as long as the hero can find a willing trainer. Once a Skill is learned, the hero is given a Skill Card and starts at Skill level 1. Heroes can keep track of their Skills and levels on their Hero Card.

Skills are permanently active, so a hero doesn’t need to worry about whether they “remember their training” at a particular point.